Confidence Game released today! You can find it on Kindle, Nook, iBooks, Kobo,… all the usual places. In an earlier blog post, I discussed where the story takes place (the Coreward Corporate Zone). Another interesting question is *when* does it take place, relative to other books set in the TCOTU galaxy.

Heskan took command of Anelace in This Corner of the Universe on 0325.995. The “995” is the year. Hero of the Republic begins in Year ‘995 as well and ends in ‘005. That book spans nearly a decade and covers events that are referenced but never explored during the TCOTU series (which ended in ‘997). Hero then moves the timeline forward another roughly eight years beyond Last Measure of Devotion.

Confidence Game occurs in the year ‘004, essentially one year before the (HOTR spoiler alert!) next contact with the Parasites. It was important for this new story to begin before such a consequential event although, if I continue with the crew of Zanshin, the story will obviously catch up to “present day.”

I normally dislike writing a story that is out of sequence but it was necessary in this case for reasons that will become obvious if I continue Reece and Mercer’s story. I certainly enjoyed telling it and I hope you have as much fun reading about their adventures. I’ll probably bask in the glow of finishing a book I am proud of for a week and then put my nose back to the grindstone and work very hard on Across the Blue Line, the next installment of The Parasite Initiative.

Enjoy the rest of Summer and hopefully, enjoy a little smuggler’s tale that takes place in a tiny little corner of the TCOTU universe.